Silicon Diode Structures Based on Nanowires for Temperature Sensing Application

In this work, diode temperature sensors based on silicon nanowires (SiNWs) were fabricated. SiNWs were obtained by means of metal-assisted chemical etching of silicon (MACE). The surface morphology of silicon nanowires was studied by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The SEM results showed that a periodic array of silicon nanowires with a height of $4.9 \ldots 5.8\ \mu \mathrm{m}$ and a width of $k$ was obtained. The influence of MACE synthesis parameters on electrical and thermosensitive characteristics of the devices was studied. Obtained thermodiodes were studied in two different modes: constant current mode and constant voltage mode. It was found that the maximum values of the rectification ratio (1207) and thermal sensitivity (3 mV/K) were obtained for the deposition time of Ag-NPs of 20 s and the etching time of silicon of 90–150 min. For comparison, obtained rectification coefficient was 3 times higher, and thermal sensitivity was about 50% better than that of a silicon diode without SiNWs.